Step One: get a tree. Step Two: hook the tree up to a Nissan GT-R. Step Three: engage launch control and, wait, this isn’t so simple.

Nissan has a new ad out where they use a GT-R on launch control to spin the ornaments off of a Christmas tree. It’s charming and cute and it looks very easy. But..

But a quick look behind the scenes of the shoot show this isn’t quite the case.

Sure, there are the usual production questions of getting double Formula Drift champion Chris Forsberg behind the wheel, getting clearance at the Streets of Willow, and getting the whole thing on camera. More interesting is how to get the tree to spin right, which starts with bolting the tree to the ground and ends with a number of somewhat maddening spin tests in a SoCal alleyway.

Check out the full video from Donut Media above, done by some of the best shooters and producers out there, including Will Roegge and the inimitable Andy Laputka.